Page 50 of Fragile Heart

Brielle’s smile hits me like a damn brick to the face. It’s a miracle I manage to keep walking. This smile isn’t like any of the others I’ve seen since she moved back here—small, careful, controlled. This one is big and bright and unrestrained. It reminds me of the last time she and I were happy in a room together—a decade ago now.

Jealousy seethes through me faster than I can contain it.

“Daddy!” Camden exclaims. “Daddy, can we go camping with Bri and Aunt Melissa?”

He cuts through the crowd of people, latching onto my leg. His eyes are wide, and his lips are pushed into a pout.

“Please,” he says, drawing the word out until it’s practically five syllables.

I cock an eyebrow as I look toward Melissa.

“You’re going camping?” I ask her. She hasn’t gone in years, not since Brandon.

She shrugs and pushes her glasses up her nose. “It sounded fun. Pack Bennett got a permit for a large site on the shore of Phelps Lake.”

Pack Bennett? My gaze trails to the men still seated around a table that feels much too small compared to them. All three ofthem are older than me and dressed in similar shorts and polos. The man closest to me, his hair and beard nearly entirely gray, holds a sleeping baby in his arms. A man with black rimmed glasses stands and closes the distance to Brielle, easing one of the girls away from her leg.

“Iris, darling, I know you’re excited. But let her sit down first.” His voice is a rich baritone that cuts through the noise of the kids. Brielle laughs and hugs the girl again. She tries to take a step toward the table but trips over the other girl. The man catches her with a hand under her elbow, and she falls into him.

“Sorry, Carter,” she says.

He smiles and helps her regain her balance.

The growl rises in my throat too fast to tamp out. Melissa’s face pales as her eyes widen. The men still at the table tense, their eyes locking on me.

“Daddy?” Camden asks, not noticing my slip up the way everyone else has. “Can we go?”

“I need to talk it over with Caleb,” I say, hedging around an outright no. My voice is still too deep, carrying the jealous growl.

Stuck with Brielle in a finite space without an escape hatch? Absolutely the fucknot. But it’s not like I can actually say that without causing a fuck load of problems.

Camden sighs but nods, pulling away from me and going back to Brielle.

“Daddy says he doesn’t know yet,” he tells her even though she heard me just fine. “If we can, can I stay in your tent?”

That growl rips through me again. Jesusfuck, I need to get that under control.

The red-headed woman frowns as she stares at me, her hand combing through the little girl’s strawberry blonde hair.

“Aunt Brielle?” the girl with strawberry blonde hair says. Her voice is calm and collected, way more so than I’d expect from akid so young. She can’t be much older than Camden. “Can we see your house? Iris and I made stuff for it.”

Brielle nods, not looking at me. Melissa’s eyebrow is raised, though, suspicion lighting her face.

“If it’s all right with your parents,” Brielle says. “I’d love to see what you have.”

Both of the girls look to the man with the beard.

“Why don’t you all go see it? I’ll head to the rental with Dahlia so she can finish her nap,” he says, his voice smooth and low.

That seems to satisfy everyone. The group stands and clears out of the cafe with an impressive proficiency I’ve never managed with just one child—much less three. Melissa grabs Brielle’s hand as she turns to leave.

“You want some company tomorrow?” she asks.

Brielle grimaces.

Melissa sighs and squeezes her hand. “All right. Text me if you need anything.”

Brielle nods, and then she’s gone, too, the bell over the door jingling as she leaves. Joan brings Camden’s hot cocoa over to him, and he smiles as he takes it. Not a minute later, Caleb comes out from the back.

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